Emory administrators hailed the June 23 U.S. Supreme
Court decision that upheld the use of race as a factor in admissions
decisions at the University of Michigan.

In two separate cases that were heard jointly, the court voted 5-4
to support Michigan’s use of race as one of many factors in
its law school admissions procedures, but the court struck down
by a 6-3 vote the university’s use of a point system that
factors race in undergraduate admissions. Still, despite the seemingly
split decision, affirmative action supporters are claiming victory
in that the court, in the Michigan law school case, upheld the spirit
of a 1978 decision that declared a “compelling interest”
in diversity on college campuses.

“On behalf of the faculty, students and staff of Emory University,
and in union with the great majority of the presidents of private
universities, I welcome the decisions of the Supreme Court,”
President Bill Chace said. “The court found a compelling interest
in ‘obtaining educational benefits that flow from a diverse
student body.’ It thus reaffirmed the principles articulated
in the 1978 Bakke decision that found a compelling state interest
in racial and ethnic diversity in higher education.”

Because Michigan is a public school, the decisions do not directly
affect private institutions like Emory, but had the court ruled
that race could not be used as a factor in admissions, the stage
would have been set for a challenge to admissions policies at private
schools.

However the court’s vote in the Michigan law school case,
coupled with the fact that Emory does not use a quantitative method
like Michigan’s point system for undergraduates, means the
decisions were good news all around.

“From my reading [of the decision], the Emory admissions policies
are in good shape,” said General Counsel Kent Alexander. “As
a selective private university, we have the luxury of evaluating
each application separately and making decisions using a host of
factors. Our system is flexible and non-mechanistic, which are two
characteristics Justice [Sandra Day] O’Connor found compelling.”

“The court’s support of affirmative action is in harmony
with Emory’s desire to attract a diverse student body of the
highest quality,” Chace said. “Our admissions policies
and practices, at both the undergraduate and professional school
levels, reflect our conviction that true education must embrace
genuine student diversity. We plan no changes whatsoever in those
policies and practices, believing them to be fully consonant with
the rulings of the court.”

In February Emory joined with 37 other private universities an amici
“friend of the court” brief, originally filed by Carnegie
Mellon University, that expressed support for Michigan’s admissions
policies. The brief affirmed the principles of the Bakke decision
and stated that “some consideration of race in evaluating
individual candidates” is the best way to ensure a diverse
student body.

On June 23, the Supreme Court seemed to agree. However Alexander
said that, in his dissenting opinion, Justice Antonin Scalia “gave
a one-page roadmap” for anyone who wants to attack the decision.
With rumors around Washington that a Supreme Court vacancy may soon
open, and with a conservative president in George W. Bush set to
make the appointment to fill that vacancy, there is a distinct possibility
that future challengers to race-conscious admissions policies may
find a friendlier audience in the nation’s highest court.

In light of the decision, Alexander said he and Senior Vice Provost
Harriet King soon will meet with admissions officers from each of
Emory’s schools to discuss the impacts for the University.

“Had the Michigan law decision gone the other way,”
Alexander said, “we would have held that meeting the next
day.”